A Better Life
by XRabbit14
Summary: In the vast scope of all the different possible timelines, one boy's grim future never seems to change. That is, until something exceptionally terrible happens in one of them. To combat this, Dream sends Ink to a different timeline, hoping for him to befriend the human to create more positive feelings in order to maintain balance. Follow Ink in this story of an unlikely friendship.
1. Prologue

**IMPORTANT:**

This story will be updated infrequently.

The content ahead will contain mild language, violence, and dark themes.

Some aspects of this story tie in with XWolf26's story **_DoubleTale_** and is canonically considered a spinoff or an alternate storyline, but you don't need to have read his story in order to enjoy mine. I want to go out of my way to appeal to both audiences, making this story have multiple different meanings and conclusions depending on what you know, or don't know.

If you do, however, want to read his story, you can find it here.

\- https/s/11738761/1/DoubleTale

Reviews, regardless of whether you're familiar with **_DoubleTale_** or not, are _always_ appreciated. All I ask is that the DT readers please be mindful not to spoil anything for non DT readers, in case they happen to want to read the story for themselves.

As of right now, this story _is_ related to Undertale, but does not associate with any of the main characters from the original game. This may be subject to change in the future, though, as the story progresses.

 _ **Disclaimer:** All of the characters used in this story belong to their respectful owners, and I do not claim anything but the story itself and the main character, Mason. _

Ink!Sans - comyet

Error!Sans - loverofpiggies

Dream and Nightmare - JokuBlog

Cter, Predator, Anarchy and Gatherer (DoubleTale) - XWolf26

Undertale - Toby Fox

 _Thank you for your patience and understanding, please enjoy the story ahead! -M_


	2. Future - Chapter 1

"Where is it, where is it..."

The young man mumbled to himself, looking around curiously amongst the various drawings and paintings scattered, floating in the white void around him. Putting a finger to his lips, his eyes scanned over many different colors and shapes, making up intricate works of art.

"Ah yes, there it is...!"

He smiled to himself joyfully, quickly walking over to what he had been searching for, his coffee colored trench coat flowing behind him with each stride.

He was a complete mess, his dark brown hair awkwardly sticking up in places and various colored paint splotches stained his clothes, some streaks of it even coating one of his cheeks. His light teal eyes paid no mind to his messy appearance, though, as they were alight with excitement as his fingers gingerly plucked the painting out of the air in front of him as he approached it.

 _"Hey!"_

A voice yelled, close enough to the boy that it made him jump - holding the picture close to his chest as he turned slightly to look over his shoulder in order to see who it was.

"Who the heck are you, a-and how did you even get in here??"

The equally as messy skeleton blinked rapidly in confusion, each time he did his pupils changed both color and shape.

They both stood and looked at each other for a solid minute, the boy's eyes scanning the shorter monster in front of him, his gaze stopping first at the skeleton's sash with various colored paints, and then at the exceptionally large paintbrush mounted on his back.

"I uh... came here for something that I needed." The brown-haired boy finally responded, a bit awkwardly, peeling his eyes away from the large art utensil.

"...That, didn't really answer any of my questions, but at least I know _why_ you're here now." the monster replied, trying his best to be optimistic despite the odd circumstance.

The human only shrugged.

"Everything's gotta happen for a reason, right?" He smiled, an odd, cheerful smile.

"... I'm... Ink."

The monster seemed baffled, but for some reason unbeknownst to him, he couldn't think of any other response other than to introduce himself to the odd character before him, offering his hand for an honest handshake.

"My name's not important, but feel free to call me 'The Creationist' for now!" his smile only seemed to widen as he took Ink's hand, gratefully shaking it.

" _The Creationist_...?" Ink questioned, cocking a brow bone up at the boy.

"Well, just 'Creationist' is okay too." he replied lightheartedly.

"Well Mr. 'Creationist'-"

Ink's expression seemed to lighten up as he shook the human's hand, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you."

\--

 _"Who are those people? I don't remember painting that..."_

 _"They're my friends… I think? I don't know, but I feel like I know them somehow."_

 _"...Hey, one of them kinda looks like you, C."_

 _"That's, weird… the other one kind looks like_ **_you,_** _Ink…"_


	3. Present - Chapter 2

"Once upon a time, humans and monsters-"

"Aw c'mon, you gotta start the story like that? That's booorrriiinnnggg!"

Ink was cut off by the little boy's complaining, the small human in front of him not being able to settle or sit still for more than a couple of seconds.

The skeleton only cracked a small grin at his impatience, thinking of different ways to reword the story, in order to appeal better to his young mind.

"Alright alright…" Ink chuckled softly, kneeling down to sit cross-legged in front of his one-person audience.

"How about this?"

Ink carefully removed his large paintbrush from his back, the child watching in wild curiosity. Grabbing a few tubes of paint from his sash, the monster began squeezing a bit of each color onto the bristles of the brush. Green, orange, yellow, and a little bit of red later, he took a gentle swipe at the air. All of the colors swirled together and formed a picture of a human and a monster standing side by side.

"A long time ago, humans - such as yourself, and monsters - like me, lived in peace. There was no fighting."

Ink explained, motioning to the child, and then to him, respectively.

"Then one day, something very bad happened, and the humans went to war with the monsters."

"What happened??"

"That's a story for another time-"

"But I wanna knowww!!"

The little boy insisted, bouncing up and down impatiently. Ink chuckled again, intrigued by the boy's insatiable curiosity.

He waved a hand through the air, the paint morphing to show a different scene.

"A small human, no different than you, fell down a mountain and ended up in the Underground - that's where the monsters lived. The human was adopted by the king and queen of the Underground, and they treated them as their own and raised them alongside their other child, Asriel."

Ink looked down, grimacing lightly as he took into account what he was about to explain next. Taking both of his hands, he made an 'X' shaped swiping motion with them, the paint changing to another scene. This time, looking a bit more dark and sinister.

"...Unfortunately, one day, the child became very ill. Knowing full well that they were going to die, they asked their adopted brother and best friend Asriel to fulfill their dying wish."

The child stayed quiet, enthralled by Ink's storytelling and also by the dark twist in the story. Their face was blank as they focused on Ink's words, trying to process them as thoroughly as their 10 year old brain could.

Drawing another paint tube from his sash, Ink squeezed a bit of purple onto his finger, using it to draw out yet another somber scene to match the tone of his tale.

"Of course, Asriel wanted to do anything for them, rightfully upset that they were going to die soon. They both had grown very close in such a short amount of time. He agreed, and the human told Asriel that they wanted to see the flowers from their village, one last time…"

Grabbing a tube of light blue paint, he repeated the process of taking a little bit onto his finger, changing the scene to depict buildings outside of a mountainous terrain.

"Asriel carried them outside of the Underground and to a village at the very foot of the mountain. Upon reaching it, Asriel laid the dying human in a patch of flowers, just as they requested. But despite Asriel's good deed, the humans within the village saw it very differently. They thought that Asriel had killed one of their own, and outrage broke the town into chaos. They killed Asriel with spears and arrows alike to get revenge for the fallen human."

Squirting more purple and a little bit of dark blue onto his paintbrush, he took another swipe at the air, the colors swirling together like a vortex, showing yet another scene.

"Having lost both of their children in one day, the king and queen were heavily distraught. The king declared war on the humans who killed his own, but the humans were too strong - and sealed the entire monster race underground. And so there, they stayed."

Holding out his hands, Ink let the floating paint fall onto his hands on command, before wiping his hands on his scarf, staining it with the various colors he used to paint the tale.

"That's why you don't see any monsters on the surface, where you live."

Ink smiled sadly, but the child just cocked their head at him, confused.

"But then… how are you here?"

The skeleton was a bit taken aback by his question, and blinked a few times - pupils changing shape and color each time. But he soon cracked a wide grin as he answered.

"I'm a special case! Plus, I'm here to save you. You know that already, though, don'tcha kiddo?"

The boy smiled happily as Ink reached forward to ruffle their messy brown hair playfully, blue and purple streaks now coating his dark hair.

"But… you do remember the rule, right?"

Ink drew back his hand to put a skeletal finger up to his teeth, winking one eye shut.

"Yeah yeah, no telling anyone that you exist. I got it."

The child replied, rolling his eyes with a knowing smirk.

"You got it!"

Ink exclaimed, leaning forward and putting his hands on his knees, the remaining paint from his palms now smearing on his pant legs.

"You're a smart kid, Mason. Keep it up buddy."

"...You're gonna clean that paint up before I get yelled at for making a mess, right?"


	4. Past - Chapter 3

"What's wrong, buddy?"

"This… this kid."

Ink stood beside an even smaller skeleton, dressed in ornate light blue and yellow fabric with a simple golden crown perched atop his head. He had a look of concern on his face as his eyes were glued to the projection in front of him.

"What about him?" Ink asked, a slight note of confusion crossing his face as he looked down at his smaller friend.

"...I've seen him grow up, plenty of times in other timelines, and every time he does, it just…"

His voice trailed off, small bright cyan tears starting to form in his eye sockets as he looked up at Ink.

"...It's horrible, Ink… He has such a terrible childhood, and he doesn't grow up to be a very nice person, either… I just- I wish there was something I could do for him..!"

"Hey hey, it's okay Dream, I'm sure we can-"

"I-Ink, I'm afraid- I'm afraid that if we don't do something this time, something terrible could happen…"

Dream's golden pupils disappeared from sight, tears streaming down his cheekbones at the terrible thoughts that started to cross his mind.

Ink stayed silent as he looked to the projection of the universe that Dream had been examining, a small human boy with brown hair clearly visible, crying alone in a dark room.

"...You're right. We have to do something before your brother decides that it's time to step in."

The small skeleton's pupils returned, looking down in almost a shameful manner.

"...He already has… In another timeline. I-, I couldn't bear to watch the rest…"

The taller skeleton's fists clenched, gritting his teeth at he looked to the side.

 _"Dammit, Nightmare…"_

Closing his eyes, Ink took a deep breath, taking a hand and gently placing it on Dream's shoulder, upon which the shorter monster looked back up at him with slight surprise.

"Don't worry, Dream. We'll make things right. I promise. I won't let Nightmare _or_ Error meddle even more in this than they already have."

Dream only nodded, taking his sleeve and wiping away his tears.

"Th-Thank you, Ink."

Ink smiled.

"Hey, it's no problem. We have every right to help this kid, okay? Your brother can't just do whatever he wants."

Dream frowned slightly despite Ink's reassurance.

"I-I would've stepped in earlier, but… there weren't enough good emotions to let me pass through the fabric of the multiverse to help me get to him…"

"Then I'll go and make some! Don't you worry buddy, I got this!"

Ink said, suddenly turning away and drawing his paintbrush from his back, the leftover ink and paint on it easily forming a portal as he swiped it through the air.

"I-Ink, wait-!"

Dream stepped away from the projection as he called out to him, but Ink was already hopping through the portal as Dream reached out in a vain attempt to stop him from going through. Dream watched as the portal closed, and he sighed at the occurrence of the brash action.

"...Just be careful, Ink…"


End file.
